


Blood Hands

by regular_john



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Assassin Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Blood, Blood and Gore, Blood and Violence, Character's Name Spelled as Hanji, Eventual Levi/Eren Yeager, Eventual Relationships, F/F, F/M, French-Speaking Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Graphic Description, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Light Angst, Long-Haired Eren Yeager, M/M, Murder, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Roommates, Sleeptalking, Slow Build, Swearing, Tags Contain Spoilers, Teacher Eren Yeager, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:02:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27033124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/regular_john/pseuds/regular_john
Summary: Eren has the ability to literally see 'blood on people’s hands' if they've killed someone before. The amount of blood you see corresponds to how many people a person's killed. Most people have clean hands, the odd ex-soldier having slightly stained hands, so Eren has become used to not seeing blood hands too often.At least, until his new roommate moves in.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Jean Kirstein, Levi & Eren Yeager, Levi Ackerman/Eren Yeager, Levi/Eren Yeager
Comments: 339
Kudos: 623





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Blood Hands!
> 
> Felt like a change, been writing lovely happy pics for a bit when my style is rlly bloody n stuff.
> 
> I warn u, blood is mentioned A LOT in this fic, so if u aren't the best w blood then this might not b the fic for u. Also, it'll get more gruesome as it goes on so look out. 
> 
> Anyways!!! heres chapter one
> 
> enjoy

Eren’s ability to see blood on people’s hands was an interesting ability to discover he had, to say the least. The first time he remembered having an experience with his gift, he was in the doctor’s office as a young boy with his mother and a broken arm. The doctor walked in, and Eren noticed a small red spot on the man’s hand. 

“There’s blood on your hands.” He said, completely innocently, in his own mind informing the doctor he should wash his hands. 

Eren’s mother rushed to apologize, but the doctor was frozen in shock. Mouth agape, he turned his hands over and over and didn’t see any blood. His immediate thought went to the young green-eyed boy somehow knowing that he cut the life supply to one of his patients years ago; and he broke down into tears. He apologised to nobody in particular, Carla standing awkwardly next to Eren saying that they would try another doctor. Eren, however, noticed the blood on his hand hadn’t brushed away when the doctor had been searching for the blood. 

The first time the abilities existence dawned on him, however, was in a school assembly. He was sat with his best friends Mikasa and Armin, and a veteran army recruiter had walked onto the stage. Everything about the man was completely and utterly normal, aside from the smeared blood on a few of his fingers reaching the first joint. 

Eren’s eyes widened in shock as he leaned over to Mikasa and whisper-shouted in her ear, pointing at the man on stage. “That man! He-” 

“It’s rude to point, Eren. Didn’t you hear it explained that he lost his leg in an explosion” Mikasa snapped, snatching Eren’s arm down from its previously raised position. 

“But his  _ hands _ , look at his  _ fingers _ ” He replied, his head nodding in the direction of the man on stage talking about joining the army. 

“They look normal, Eren. What are you on about?” She replied. 

Eren turned to Armin at this point, frantic. “Armin, look at his fingers!” He once again whisper-shouted. 

“I’m looking...at what exactly?” He whispered. 

“Can’t you see it?”

“They look normal, maybe a little worn but fine. What are you talking about, Eren?” Armin asked. 

It was then that Eren realised. All the times he had seen a few drops of blood on the hands of returning soldiers, interviews from veterans from wars, police officers, even television broadcasters being allowed to show murderers with a couple of blood spots on their hands. Eren realised he could see blood on people’s hands. 

After that assembly, he tested his theory by looking up pictures of serial killers and assassins on the internet to see what happened. And, sure enough, all of them had a few spots of blood on their hands. Thoughts raced through his head as to why he could do this, maybe he was some kind of psychic? Maybe a God of some description had given him this gift? He scoured the internet for hours, trying to see if there were any past examples of Gods giving people the ability to see blood on hands; but all he came up with were quotes about eternal damnation. 

  
  
  


Over time, Eren grew up and with his aging he grew used to his ability. He decided against going into a career in criminology, although it made sense in his own mind at first. Instead, he went in the complete opposite direction and studied teaching, eventually becoming a primary school teacher. Thankfully, there was never anyone with blood hands in that place of work, so he felt safe.

Out of work, he took extra effort to stay away from those people. If he was walking down a street late at night and someone walked towards him with anything that could resemble blood on their hands, he crossed over. He even was going on a date once with a girl that had a spot of red on her hands that could have easily been makeup or sauce; and he immediately turned around and left the date. 

He didn’t really like girls anyways.

He stayed out of the way of meeting new people for a while, only interacting with work colleagues or his school and university friends. He didn’t go on dates, he didn’t really use public transport and definitely didn’t even consider moving out of the flat he shared with his ex boyfriend until it became painfully obvious that 1 year was far too long to live with an ex. 

Said ex, Jean, proposed that he looked into a flat share. The idea was terrifying, attempting to explain it to the man saying “What if this stranger is secretly a serial killer”, which is almost exactly what his biggest worry was. Jean, however, had the genius idea to ask around their friends to see if anyone wanted to flat share with him.

Most people said no, and it was starting to look rather unsuccessful until his friend from university, Hanji, mentioned someone. They said that their friend Levi was looking to flatshare for a little while, as he didn’t really have anywhere to live. Upon asking if this so-called ‘Levi’ could secretly be a serial killer, Hanji laughed it off saying “If my Levi was a serial killer, I think I would know”. 

Eren took this to the heart, seeing as Hanji had always been very honest to him, and decided to agree to him moving in on the spot. Both of them needed to get straight into it so they had somewhere to live and someone to support the costs of living there so it made sense to dive in. 

He had tried to organise going out for a coffee or something with this Levi guy before he moved in, but he said he was away on business so it would have to be over the phone. They called and it was lovely, Levi sounded like a perfectly normal and nice man just trying to find somewhere to live to help him get on the housing ladder and Eren decided that there could be absolutely nothing wrong with the wonderful, cheery man down the phone. 

Eren went ahead and got the flat, with Levi’s help, and moved in as soon as he could into one of the identical bedrooms the flat had opposite Levi’s soon-to-be bedroom and began filling the fridge and hanging up posters and stuff to make it feel more homey. The restoration itself was starting to go rather well, when a polite-sounding knock bellowed from the front door. 

Eren sauntered over to the door, dancing in small motions to the radio he had brought out to keep him occupied when cleaning up the apartment. When he opened the door, though, his dancing faltered. 

The man that stood at the other end of the door was shorter than he was, but clearly more athletic if the muscles coming out of his black shirt were anything to go by. He wore his black hair with an undercut, a slightly off-centre parting to the style, and his facial features seemed almost bored and tired at the same time; in an annoyingly attractive way. Eren’s eyes widened in shock, however, upon looking at the man’s hands. 

No, not even his hands, up to just past his elbows the man stood in front of him was dripping with blood, each shocking red drop supposedly symbolising a life. Where previous people he had seen had had maybe a few droplets, or the murderers had up to maybe halfway up their palm, he was way above them. Eren had never seen the blood drip from anyone before, and he knew that this guy was trouble.

Instinctively, he took a step away from the entrance of his apartment and clenched on slightly tighter to the door. “Can I help you?” He asked, his voice tainted with terror. 

The familiar deep, velvety voice of the man standing opposite him flowed from his mouth with a slight French accent as he said the one thing Eren had been dreading him to say. 

“I’m Levi, your new roommate.” 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi moves in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoyyyy I hope u like it

“I’m Levi, your new roommate.” The man said, stretching out his bright red arm dripping with blood ending just above his elbows. “You must be Eren?”

Eren took a deep breath and smiled the most convincing smile he could muster, trying his best to mask the utter terror he was really feeling. “That’s right, so nice to meet you Levi” He gingerly took Levi’s hand, going against every instinct in his body. He flinched slightly when their hands connected, but was surprised to find he couldn’t feel the thick coating of blood on his hand but the warm flesh you would expect from a normal person’s hand. 

Levi clearly wasn’t normal.

After shaking hands, Eren stepped back and motioned Levi into their apartment. “Your bedroom is opposite mine, the one with the poster on it” he said, keeping a step or so away from Levi as he walked him to their rooms from the front door, Levi noticeably only having a rucksack with him and nothing else. 

“Oh cool, I love Alien” Levi said, commenting on the poster on Eren’s door with a friendly grin adorning his face. “We could totally do a film marathon sometime, order in pizzas and stuff”

Eren gulped, his head screaming at him to stay away from the clear mass-murderer already making plans to do stuff together. “Maybe, yeah that could be nice” He said rather nonchalantly, trying not to seem rude while thinking he should move to another country to get away from Levi. 

Levi beamed at his response, nodding encouragingly “Great! Well, let me know when you’re up for that and I’ll make time because that sounds like fun” 

Eren nodded and hummed affirmingly. “Yep.” He said, his voice small with sheer panic. 

Levi nodded in return, a soft smile still on his face as he opened his bedroom door to start unpacking his bag; he opened his mouth to continue enthusiastic small talk with his new roommate when he was cut off. 

Eren frantically opened his bedroom door and slammed it shut, shaky hands grasping for his pocketed phone to call his best friend. 

The phone beeped and Eren listened along in dead silence, acutely aware that there was a mass murderer in the next room. 

“Eren, I’m kind of in the-”

“I think my roommate is a murderer!” Eren squealed, keeping his voice hushed. 

“Eren...what?”

“Armin, can I move in with you? I think my roommate is a murderer.” He whispered, standing as far away from his bedroom door as he could pushed in the corner next to his wooden desk. 

“Why on earth would you think that?”

“It’s a bit of a long story, but I know for a FACT that he has killed...NUMEROUS times” He pressed, quietly starting to pack a rucksack with his laptop and a few t-shirts. 

“Eren, I really think you’re projecting something here. I can’t imagine-”

“Please, I’m telling you I know this” He begged, tip-toeing around his room.

Armin sighed, clearly frustrated with his best friend. “I’ll tell you what, stay with this guy for a few days and if he murders anyone while you live together you can report him to the police.”

“WHAT IF HE FUCKING KILLS ME?” Eren whisper-shouted, his heart racing and his body trembling making him feel lightheaded. .    
  


“Breathe, Eren. If you really want, I can come over for a bit. But I’m on a date this evening so I’d just have to check in on you”

Eren paused his frantic packing to sit on his childish dinosaur-cover bed to take deep breaths and calm to panic that was overwhelming him. “Would you? I’d ask Mika but I know she’s busy with stuff…”

“I’ll come for an hour, I’ll say hello to your roommate then I’ll leave to go on my date that you’ve actually failed to ask who it's with and have a lovely evening. How does that sound?”

“Sounds great, thanks Armin” Eren sighed, holding a limp hand over his eyes as his breath slowed. 

“I’ll be over in 5 minutes.” Armin said, hanging up before Eren had the chance to say anything else. 

He gently placed his phone on the bed beside him and shook his head, continuing to take deep breaths while being grateful his friend was coming over. He started mentally planning how he would cope with having a murderous roomate; he’d have to install a lock on his bedroom door and he’d have to keep a close eye on his every move just in case-

A brisk knock sounded at his bedroom door, startling Eren out of his thoughts. “Come in” he said, placing two shaking hands in his lap. 

Levi opened his bedroom door, resting his bloody forearm on the doorframe while holding onto the doorknob with his other equally bloody hand. If it weren’t for the fact that every time Eren saw him, he was reminded that Levi had killed multiple times, he could probably be quite attractive with his muscular build and pretty face. 

If he wasn’t a murderer. 

“I’m making a tea, would you like one?” Said murderer asked. 

The other man moved his gaze away from the droplets of blood falling from Levi’s arms only to disappear from sight once coming in contact with the floor, and stared up at the smiling face of his new roommate. “I’m more of a coffee guy” He said calmly, mentally planning an escape from his room if it was needed. 

“Oh, okay!” Levi grinned, his smile shocking for how pure it made the supposed evil man look. “Do you have a machine or something? I get through a lot of tea bags so I really don’t mind getting you coffee beans or whatever you use while I get my tea bags.” He offered, a small peaceful smile resting on his lips. 

Eren hummed for a moment, feigning thought. “I think I’m alright for now, thanks.”

“Okay! If you ever need some just text me and I’m more than happy to get you some.” Levi nodded, and swiftly turned around to leave Eren’s bedroom. 

Eren stood up to close his door when he heard a soft knock at the front door, causing him to run as fast as he could to answer the door. On the other side, to his great relief, he found his best friend.

“Armin.”

“That’s right…”

Eren grabbed Armin’s hand and dragged him into his room, past Levi in the kitchen. 

“Hi! I’m Armin.”

“Hi, Levi.” He said, giving a quick wave as they passed by while he made his tea.

Eren slammed the door behind them and moved his rucksack against the door to shut them in.

“I’m worried.” Eren sighed, letting himself fall on his bed. 

“What about?” Armin asked, leaning against the wall watching Eren lie on his face in bed. 

“He’s creepy.” Eren muttered, his voice obscured by the bed sheets. 

“How so?” Armin questioned. 

“I don’t know, he just is. He’s really nice.”

Armin huffed in mild annoyance “That’s the opposite of creepy, isn’t it? That’s just being a nice person to your brand new roommate” 

“I guess…”

“Have you even spoken to him yet?” Armin asked, moving from his position against the wall to sit next to Eren in his bed. 

“We’ve shared maybe three whole conversations” Eren huffed glumly. 

“Well, I’m sure if you just spoke to him a little more then it would be fine. Maybe he’s being weird because you haven’t actually spoken to him so he must find that a bit odd. I think you’re overreacting a bit.”

“But Armin-”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover, Eren. I’m sure he’s lovely once you get to know him.”

‘If only you knew’ Eren thought, his mind shifting to the image of Levi standing in his doorway with bright red droplets of blood dripping from his bare arms. 

“Plus, he’s definitely your type and was checking you out for sure earlier” He added, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Eren rolled his eyes, images of Levi stood in his doorway flooding back. “I highly doubt that as he is almost definitely straight, and anyways I’m not really ready for another relationship yet. I’m way too busy with lesson planning.” _Plus_ , he mentally added, _I can’t risk anyone coming over for a while as they may get killed_. 

Armin nodded glumly along with Eren’s words and then finally let out a breath he must’ve been holding “Well, I’ve got a date if that’s all” Armin stood up, walking to lean against the wall again. 

“I know, no need to flex your ability to get some” Eren huffed, sitting up from his bed holding his dinosaur stuffed toy tightly to his chest; feelings absolutely no shame for appearing childish in front of Armin. 

“It’s with Jean.” Armin blurted abruptly, a blush making its way onto his face as he stared at the ground. 

“Right…” 

“A-are you okay with that?” Armin mumbled, closing his eyes in trepidation. 

“Yeah, yeah of course. We broke up over a year ago, go for it” _plus romance is the last thing on my mind right now_ , he thought. 

“Okay! Well good, because I really like him” Armin said, looking at Eren with a massive grin worming its way onto his face. 

“I’m glad,” Eren said, forcing yet another smile onto his face to prove his point. 

The other man nodded and looked at his watch “Okay I really have to go now, I’ll see you at work on Monday?” Armin asked, brightening up the whole room with his joy. 

“See you then” Eren replied, _if I’m still alive by then_ , he thought. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo that was chapter 2  
> thoughts? opinions? theories?  
> I rlly enjoyed reading the theories last week keep em coming
> 
> This fic will be updated every Thurdsay (occasionally on a Friday instead), I rlly hope u all stick around to see where it goes. It might get a bit deep in the future, but ah well I feel like u all knew that. 
> 
> Thank you sososososo much for reading and those rlly nice comments last time lol I hope this is up to those standards. 
> 
> Socials n stuff -  
> ig - @regular___john  
> Tumblr - regular-john-16278


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cheeky Levi POV at the beginning for a little bit, starting to find our more about him

Levi never slept much, having on average an unhealthy 2-4 hours of sleep per night was the norm for him. When he did actually sleep, though, he was a light sleeper. It was no different on his first night in his new flat; with his strange roommate - the guy that seemed overly confident and joyous over the phone in the brief chat that they had had, but surprisingly shy in person. 

Levi awoke from his brief, dreamless slumber to the sound of a blood curdling scream from outside his door. He grabbed the knife that had been under his pillow and sprinted towards the scream to find himself in front of Eren's room, desperately trying to prize open the locked door. 

“Eren?! Are you okay in there?” He shouted, one hand grasping desperately at the handle while the other banged on the door while simultaneously holding the knife. 

No reply came from his words, just the continued yet noticeably quieter screaming of his roommate. 

“Eren!” He yelled, banging as hard as his fist would allow him. 

The screams abruptly stopped, and Levi stopped banging and crouched to look through the keyhole to try to see what was happening in there. He was shocked, however, to see the room clearly as Eren had left his desk light on. 

Eren was in bed, fast asleep with his forearm draped over his mouth. _He was dreaming?_

Levi watched as his roommate started to talk, his voice muffled slightly by his arm. “Blood” he heard him whisper. The raven-haired man sucked in a startled breath at the word, slowly being repeated over and over again like a chant. He tried to prize his eyes away from the sleeping man but all he could do was watch in horror as the man he now lived with continued to have his horrible dream. He moved the knife from his hand to the floor next to the door and repositioned himself to kneel in front of the keyhole to continue watching the sleeping man and his chanting. 

“How is there so much blood?” He muttered.

A chill crept through Levi's body as he watched Eren, hyper-aware of how deeply he was breathing and trying to avoid being heard. 

“Please, I don’t want to see it,” Eren continued to murmur, “there is so much blood.”

He couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the man, a sudden urge coming over him to protect him so he didn’t have to see anymore bloodshed. Levi wondered how he’d managed to be so affected by blood when he hadn’t mentioned being in the army or anything like that. 

He shook his head, mentally chastising himself for getting involved in other people’s business. He took one last look at his sleeping flatmate, seeing he had moved to sleep in silence, and went back to his own room making sure to pocket his knife. 

___________________________________________

Eren went through his morning as he usually would, but making his coffee run to the kitchen as quickly as he possibly could to avoid even the smallest chance of running into his murderous roommate. Once Armin had left the flat the previous night, Eren had practically barricaded himself in his room to avoid any direct contact with the man who noticeably didn’t leave his room for the rest of the evening. Aside from leaving his room to go to work, this is how he continued living for an entire week with both men keeping their distance from one another; before being scolded by his best friend at work. 

“I just don’t understand why you don’t try talking to him?” Armin asked, both of the men sat on a bench in the school playground after being assigned lunch duty. 

“Because hes fucking scary.” Eren mumbled.

Armin smacked his friend on the back of the head “Language, Eren!”

“I’m sorry but he freaks me out!” He countered, rubbing the spot that Armin had just hit. 

“Grow up! Just speak to him, you live with him for Christ’s sake.” Armin sighed, taking a sip from his carton of orange juice. “If you don’t talk to the guy, I wll” He said, his gaze moving around the children running around the playground ensuring they were playing safely. 

“You what?” Eren snapped, his head abruptly moving to stare at Armin’s smiling one as he waved at some passing children. 

“If you don’t make an effort and talk to him, I will do it for you.” 

And so, much to Eren’s sheer terror, he had to talk to Levi. 

Eren took a deep breath before unlocking his apartment door, shuffling in as if his feet were weighed down and gently closing the door. He hung up his coat on their shared coat rack and took his shoes off, before turning around to face the rest of the apartment. 

He hadn’t noticed Levi making himself a tea, but he was hard to miss with his bare arms resting on the countertop collecting a little pool of blood on the countertop. 

“Hi.” Eren said, his voice wavering slightly as he mentally imagined all the lives that pool of blood represented. 

“Umm hi?” Levi replied, an uncertain yet utterly inviting smile materialising on his face. Maybe he lures them in with his face?

“How are you?” He said, taking a seat at the kitchen island opposite Levi and blurting the absolute first thing that came to mind. 

Levi continued to smile, “I’m well, thanks for asking. About to make a tea if you want-”

“What’s your job?” Eren interrupted the man’s smooth talking, desperately trying to seem casual but utterly failing as general intrigue took over. 

“Excuse me?” The man raised an eyebrow, moving his arms and the pool of blood that surrounded them to cross over his chest; small droplets of blood raining from his arms as if he had just showered in the stuff. 

“I-uh, I realised Hanji never mentioned” He continued, gulping at the sight of blood falling from his arms.

Levi remained silent, before turning to continue making his tea and pulling out a second cup. 

“What’s your job?” Eren asked again, his voice stronger this time. 

Levi noticeably faltered with his tea preparation, before turning back to face Eren. His jaw briefly clenched, but then he went back to his normal soft smile. “I get contracted to do bits and pieces for different people, kind of an odds and ends job really” He replied with ease, clearly a well versed response.

_So he’s an assassin_ , Eren thought. “How long have you been doing that?” He asked, yet again blurting the first thing that came to mind. 

“So many questions!” Levi laughed a breathy laugh, moving back to leaning on the countertop and moving his subtly uncertain gaze to Eren. 

“I’m just curious.” 

The other man let out a breath, rubbing the back of his neck with his bloodied hand and moving it back to rest on the countertop. “Well...ever since I can remember, really. I lived with my uncle growing up; he homeschooled me and he did the same kind of thing so I learned from him and earned my own money doing little things as well. At first he taught me how to do all the different jobs, but once I got the contacts of the people who wanted stuff done; I was about seven or eight when I could do jobs without any help” He smiled easily, in his mind telling his flatmate a heartwarming story about working and learning with his uncle.

Eren’s mouth opened in shock, Levi’s voice fading from his concentration as he realised the dual meaning behind the man’s words. 

He’s been killing since he was a child. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiii  
> sorry this is 2 weeks late legends, quite frankly keeping up with the election over in the US for my degree etc  
> thoughtssss on this what do u think?? Theories about stuff?? I rlly like hearing this stuff lol I find it rlly interesting 
> 
> anyways, back on that Thursday uploading thing again I sweAR, but if ur also from the uk like me this probably means 1am on a Friday...sorry
> 
> ANYWAYS thanks fo much for reading, means a lot 
> 
> Socialssss -  
> ig - @regular___john  
> Tumblr - regular-john-16278
> 
> ..srs tho thanks for like 900 hits etc means a lot


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its a long one!! enjoyyyy

Eren was stunned. No words were able to leave his mouth as it remained open, becoming dryer by the second as thoughts raced through his mind of a child serial killer living with him. 

“... Eren are you alright?” Levi asked gently, his head cocked to the side as a small smile graced his lips. 

Eren closed his gaping mouth and swallowed the lump in his throat. “F-fuck.” He blurted, coughing after speaking and turning his attention back to his roommate “Sorry, sorry. Just- working from that young?” 

“Yeah, it was never particularly hard, it’s just money at the end of the day” He shrugged, resting his chin on his bloodied forearms. 

Eren tugged at the sleeves of his worn knitted jumper, one of his common techniques he used to calm himself down. “So...it's not your dream job?” He asked tentatively.

“I’m not really good at anything else, unless reading can be a job” Levi quipped, a breathy laugh following his words. 

Eren replied with his own nervous laugh, though his thoughts were anywhere but with his roommate’s reading habits. ‘ _How old was Levi when he first killed?_ ’ Eren found it hard to imagine any of his students killing anyone, even the ones that weren’t too well behaved. ‘ _He was raised like this_ ’. 

A cool, stomach-turning sensation washed over him as the magnitude of the situation became apparent. The man sitting across from him, smiling and talking softly about whatever book he was talking about was brought up and taught how to kill. He couldn’t help but feel sympathetic for him, it’s not like he could put up much of a fight to his up-bringing. 

But he could’ve easily stopped killing by now...surely. 

“Don’t you think?” Levi interrupted his train of thought.

“Um- yep” Eren replied, having no idea what the question was relating to. 

Levi snorted and continued talking animatedly about a book, reminding Eren so much of Hanji. ‘ _Do they know he’s a killer?_ ’ He thought, nodding along to the raven’s words. ‘ _Maybe he stopped, or he hides it well?_ ’. 

‘ _Has he killed while being my roommate?_ ’

Levi returned to the table a few moments later, shocking Eren awake from his daydreams. He placed a cup of tea on the countertop and a yellow book neatly next to it. “Eren?” He asked, his head tilted to meet Eren’s downward facing gaze. 

“Hi…”

“Do you want a coffee?” He asked, raising an eyebrow

“No! Thanks, I just had one.” Eren lied, remembering the situation he was in as his bloodied roommate rested his hands on the clean white surface. 

Levi tilted his head, seemingly reading Eren’s expression as the reply came and looking mildly dissatisfied. The look quickly vanished, being replaced with his usual soft smile. “Ah, okay. If you change your mind just let me know!” 

The brown-haired man sighed and stood up. “Yep...I’m going to go and plan a lesson”

The other man curtly nodded and picked up his tea by the rim to have a sip “If you need me, just knock for me. I’ll probably be reading.” He said, smiling gently. 

“Okay, Levi.” Eren walked away from the kitchen and into his room; collapsing onto his desk chair. 

He looked around the room hopelessly, knowing full well he had no reason to really be hiding in his room aside from the blatantly obvious fact that he was ever so slightly scared of his roommate. The man that offered to make him drinks, the one passionately ranting about books, the one with the soothing voice-

Eren shook his head, as if the physical movement would jog his train of thought. He opened his laptop on his desk and opened a new tab to search up something, and somehow ended up tying Levi Ackerman.

No social media profiles came up, so he turned to images. He scrolled down for a bit, finding pictures of jeans and a few pictures of some old guy with long greying hair. Eren nearly gave up on finding a picture, but stumbled upon one taken of the Eiffel Tower with three people standing in front of it. 

Eren recognised Hanji wearing jeans and a massive yellow t-shirt with some weird graphic on it, grinning widely at the camera. Stood next to Hanji was Levi grinning up at a tall muscular blonde man who had an arm draped around Levi’s shoulder. ‘ _Who’s that guy?_ ’ Eren suddenly thought, some angry feeling coming over him as he looked at the man’s offending arm. Levi looked utterly overjoyed in the picture, his blood hands- and elbows for that matter- were covered by gloves and the sleeves of his coat. 

Eren had pictures over surfaces and hanging on walls in the more communal areas of their apartment of his family and friends, but had left quite a few surfaces and some wall space available for Levi. The man suddenly realised that the picture he was looking at was the very same picture that was hanging from a wall in the kitchen; the only picture Levi had put up. ‘ _Maybe there were some in his room?_ ’ Eren thought, but he had no intention of ever going into Levi's room; nervous to find it dark and filled with medieval torturing devices and scattered books. 

His thoughts were disturbed yet again by a knock at the door and the deep voice of his roommate “Eren?” 

Eren manically closed his laptop to hide any evidence of his stalking, just in time as Levi opened his door. “Levi.” He replied.

“I’ve just got a call...I have a job this evening and I won’t be back until quite late I’m afraid.” He said, avoiding looking at Eren as he pulled his rucksack over his back with his bare and bloody arms. “I just thought I’d let you know I’ll be out.”

Eren gulped. “Okay- yep sure, no worries”

Levi nodded at Eren, “OKay...Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then”

“Yep” Eren replied, and Levi softly closed the door with his famous smile noticeably missing. Eren knew what this meant, and felt a familiar anxiety in his stomach. 

Levi was going to kill again. 

_____________________ _____________________

Over the next few days, Levi goes out of his way to attempt to get Eren to do something with him; constantly thinking up new things for them to do together. Despite his efforts, every time Eren manages to find a way out of it. He sat at the kitchen table, coffee in hand and slouching over in his chair feeling incredibly exposed being in his own kitchen out in the open. He rarely left his room, but every Saturday morning he felt incredibly drained after a week of teaching. 

“Hey Eren!” Levi greeted cheerfully, walking over to the kettle to begin making his morning tea. 

“Mornin’” Eren mumbled.

“I-uh, I heard from a friend that there's a showing of Alien at the cinema tonight and the price is actually really reasonable. Are you free? I just bought two tickets.” He said, turning around and crossing his covered arms over his chest. 

“I’m actually busy tonight, I’m afraid” Eren lied, looking down at his coffee and feeling his ears turn red; hoping Levi didn’t notice. 

“That's alright! Maybe we could grab lunch together instead then.” He offered. 

“Sorry but I’m actually having lunch with Armin later” Eren said honestly, making his first direct eye contact of the day with his roommate. It was odd to see the man who usually wore a black short sleeved t-shirt and black jeans most of the time in pyjama bottoms and a long-sleeved navy top. He looked...comfortable. 

“No worries, maybe another time then” He said, his smile fading as he turned to complete his tea. 

Eren inwardly cursed himself, and Armin for trying to get him to be a better roommate. ‘ _It’s on you if I die, Armin_ ’ he thought, mentally sending the message to his friend. 

“Maybe we could order pizza tonight once you’re back from the cinema?” Eren blurted, not particularly wanting to but feeling increasingly guilty for constantly turning the man down. 

The look on his roommate's face was one Eren had not expected from the murderer, he looked thankful. “That’s a great idea! I’ll phone you when I’m on the way back?” He replied, grinning from ear to ear. 

“Yep, sounds good.” 

“Okay, great! Well, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Yep.” Eren said, standing up and slowly leaving the kitchen; terrified of what he had gotten himself into.

___________________________________________

The walk to the cinema was a bitter one, both for the weather being awful but also for the foul mood Levi was in after finding out he was going to the cinema without Eren. He really couldn’t figure out why Eren was so against getting to know him, even being in the same room as him made Eren seem incredibly anxious and Levi had noticed him lying to get out of things. He was trying everything in his power to make the man like him, but nothing seemed to be working. 

His mood improved, however, as he arrived at the desk after buying himself a small bag of chocolates to enjoy during the film and showing the usher his ticket. He couldn’t help but smile a little as he remembered the possibilities that having dinner with Eren involved for their bonding. Hopefully, this could be the start of something great. 

Walking down the aisle slowly while scanning the letters on the floor by the rows of chairs, he noticed that the audience was mainly made up of adults; save for a group of loud children who were in the centre row. Levi didn’t hate children, he just hated rudeness and ignorance towards others which is what these children were doing in front of everyone. It’s not even like they should’ve been there, as Alien is an 18; but as a child he snuck into the cinema plenty of times so he couldn’t focus on that too much. 

He arrived at his row and scanned across the seats, the noise of the children growing louder by the second until he stood in front of them. He quickly looked at the empty chair next to the occupied one to confirm the situation - one of the brats was in his seat. 

“I’m really sorry, but I think you’re in my seat.” He calmly stated, forcing his usual calm smile onto his face as his friend had taught him to do. 

“Oh!” The blonde boy sitting in his chair mocked surprise, looking around at the surrounding chairs, “Ah sorry, this is definitely my chair. I guess you’ll have to sit somewhere else” The boy said, Levi seeing his eyes flash red as he lied. 

“Are you sure?” Levi prompted, speaking slightly louder and holding his composure. 

“This is definitely my chair, thanks” The boy said, his eyes once again flashing red for Levi. 

“You’re lying. My ticket says that the seat you’re in is mine.” He calmly pointed out, not even needing to get out his ticket to be able to tell the boy was lying to him. 

“Chill buddy-”

“I’m not your buddy, move” Levi snapped, his expression going back to a familiar sourness he was so used to covering.

“Mate, just sit somewhere else!” He chuckled, his friends that Levi had forgotten about all laughing alongside him. 

Levi took a deep breath, one thing on his mind. “Okay.” He replied and swiftly turned around, heading for a chair the back of the cinema.

‘ _I’ll deal with this scum and his friends later_.’

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooooooooh 
> 
> ok so I should briefly explain, YESSS Levi also has an ability type thing. I just wanna mention that this fic isn't a supernatural one or anything, and I'll never come to explain WHY they have these powers...they just do and no one knows why. Levi can tell if someone is lying, by their eyes flashing red as they speak the lie. More about this to follow and stuff but yeah I feel like I might not have worded it the best without the blatant explanation in one of the coming chapters. 
> 
> Any theories about it tho?? Anyone got any thoughts? lmk!
> 
> ALSO yes this is longer than the others I rlly dont know why that is, I just had a lot to say. AND ALSO This fic is updating fortnightly atm, hope thats all good w u lot. Just juggling uni and this fic was getting a bit stress but I still really want to write it so it'll be every other Thursday (UK 1am on a Friday morning usually tbh) 
> 
> Thank you so much for readinggg!!!
> 
> Socialsss -  
> ig - @regular___john  
> Tumblr - regular-john-16278
> 
> also one last little thing  
> my pal GenericPureBlood is writing this Ereri fic called I Need You and I rllyrlly recommend u check it out. 
> 
> ok thanks


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter where it starts to get quite dark...and graphic. 
> 
> Sorry legends but if you're not a fan of graphic depictions of violence I recommend that you finish this one here
> 
> cheers

Levi slowly slid the knife out of the last boy’s chest, allowing blood to ooze through his once white t-shirt and stain it a shocking crimson. The underpass where they were was deathly silent after the prior screams had been silenced, the only noise being the distant passing of cars from the streets a few minutes away. 

“I’m sorry sir…” A small voice cracked out from the dying boy, raspy and strained. 

Levi moved from his kneeling position to stare the boy directly in his eyes, his face closer to the boy’s. “Remember what we talked about.” He uttered darkly, his voice comfortably lower than his usual forced high. 

“I won’t lie again. The ch- The chair was yours. I-I’m sorry” The boy replied, his eyes flashing a dull gold as he spoke.

“Well done, you’ll die telling the truth.” Levi replied, and took a deep breath as he calmly used his knife to slit the boys throat. The boy attempted to choke out more words, but he was quickly silenced by the man’s movements and fell silent; the underpass yet again becoming devoid of all noise. 

Levi swiftly stood up, retrieving his knife and wiping it clean with a red cloth before placing it in the interliner of his coat. He retrieved his phone from his black jeans and sent off a quick text before putting his coat’s hood up and calmly walking away from the scene; plugging in his earphones and playing soft piano music to ease his tension. 

After walking for a solid 5 minutes, he decided that was enough time to wait. He picked his phone from his pocket once again and clicked the number at the top of his favourites list. 

_**Beep beep** _

_**Beep beep** _

_**Bee-** _

“Levi!”

“Did you sort it out Farlan?” Levi snapped. 

“This wasn’t a hired one, was it? Kenny didn’t mention one for today.” 

Levi let out a breath, tilting his phone away from his mouth to hide the brief show of emotion. “What of it?” 

“You just haven’t done a random one in a while...what changed?” Farlan questioned, his voice sounding slightly laboured as he supposedly dealt with the issue. 

“Nothing.” 

“We were getting worried! I was beginning to think you’d gone soft…”

Levi scoffed. “Well, no. They were brats, it had to be done. Easy as that.” 

Farlan paused briefly, yet the pause was very noticeable. “Why did you stop doing random ones? You know Kenny likes those.”

Levi shook his head and briefly looked around before ducking into a side alley close to his destination. “I kill because it’s what I’m good at, and it puts food on the table. I have never found pleasure in it, and I found no pleasure in what I did today.” He spoke in a hushed tone, looking around and noticing he was much closer than he thought. 

“Why did you stop?”

Green eyes and messy brown hair immediately sprung to mind. “New roommate, wanted to stay off radar for a bit.” This wasn’t a lie, “That’s why I haven’t done a job since that last big one in Italy” Levi huffed.

“Okay...well I hope you’re settled in now because Kenny much prefers your work to anyone else's” 

“Tch.” 

“I’m serious!”

“Whatever. Text me when it’s done” Levi replied, and hung up giving Farlan no chance to respond. 

The alley he was in led back to the cinema, and Levi spotted the toilet window he had expertly spotted on his previous tactical trip to the bathroom. He nudged the window open and hoisted himself up from the window frame and slid into the small stall, closing the window to avoid the crisp cold air being let in. He gingerly stepped off the toilet and flushed it, for good measure, and left the cubicle to wash his hands and return to watch the rest of the film. 

_____________________ _____________________

Calling Eren at the end of the film had been awkward, Eren giving choppy responses and briskly asking what Levi wanted to eat. Walking along the pavement towards their flat with his hands in his pockets, he desperately tried to think about what could’ve gone wrong since their phone call to make his roommate so cautious of him. If he had continued to be how he had been down the phone, however, Levi could have easily been in danger of developing a crush on his beautiful roommate. This was the embarrassing thought that invaded his brain the second he unlocked their front door to find Eren in grey joggers and a baggy green jumper leaning against their kitchen island on his phone. 

“Hiya!” Levi greeted, bringing back his usual chirpy voice. 

“Levi, hi.” Eren replied, moving his phone into his pocket and taking a seat at the table. 

The raven removed his coat and shoes and put them quickly in his room, hanging the coat up and putting the shoes by his bed before closing his door and returning to the kitchen. “You alright?” He asked. 

“Yep, pizza should take about 20 minutes.”

Levi hummed, walking past the kitchen counter to their living room. They had a ledge on the wall where a mantelpiece on top of a fire would go, but without a fire; an electric heater in its place. Levi stood in front of the heater to warm his legs and took the time to look at Eren’s pictures on their fake mantelpiece. 

“Who’s in this picture with you and Armin?” He asked, making conversation. 

He heard Eren stand up and walk over to where he was, Levi acutely aware of the taller man’s presence. “Oh that’s just my sister and my ex- well Armin’s boyfriend Jean.” 

Levi raised a quizzical eyebrow, “Your ex is Armin’s boyfriend?” 

“Yeah…”Eren scratched the back of his neck, knocking his hair from its haphazard updo; he fixed his hair as he spoke. “It’s not awkward though. I was with Jean for about a year and I lived with him for a year after breaking up with him before finally moving here. We were always good friends, and we still are to be honest; we just fought a lot. Plus, he’s very busy with work as he has to travel all the time” Eren spoke, his eyes shining a dazzling gold as he spoke and returning back to their usual green once he had stopped. 

Levi gulped, doing his utmost to hide any signs of his daze brought on by his roommate. “Ah, right. That makes sense.” 

“Yeah…” He trailed off. 

The rest of the evening was relatively easy in comparison to the slight awkwardness of the beginning of it all. They ate their pizza and watched a terrible film about a T-Rex that can swim, sitting a respectable distance away from each other and occasionally commenting on the bad acting and embarrassing CGI. At the end of the film, the two men said goodnight to one another and went off to their respective rooms; a barrier seemingly broken between the two through the brilliance of low-budget sci-fi. 

This continued into the early hours of the morning as they sat on their sofa together and watched the morning news with their respective warm beverages. Levi was only half watching the news, preoccupied with the book he was reading; and Eren was similarly occupied with his phone and the game he was playing. His phone kept buzzing, however, and eventually he gave in and read the messages. 

“Hey Levi, someone just posted an article to the teacher’s group chat. Did you see these kids on the way to the cinema yesterday?”

Levi looked at the picture on Eren’s phone and immediately recognised the five children from last night, the article saying all five were missing. He mentally praised Farlan and Izzy for their quick work, remembering he had yet to reply to Farlan’s message confirming completion. “Nope, sorry.”

“Ah- They’re in Armin’s year and he’s asking around like crazy about them. They were supposedly in that area a bit before you so you could’ve just missed them. He’ll have to do an assembly today or something” 

“Jesus...Well, I hope they’re found soon. That must be so horrible for him, let alone their parents!” Levi said, sympathy painted onto his face. 

Eren nodded, seemingly satisfied with his response but the distance between the two on the sofa was still painfully obvious to Levi. “Yeah, I bet. Keep an eye out, yeah?” 

“Of course!” Levi smiled gently, feeling a foreign sense of guilt for lying to Eren. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well
> 
> things r stepping up a bit now lmao
> 
> hellurrrr farlan n kenny n izzy  
> Alsooooo the film mentioned (not Alien) is Poseidon Rex. Its terrible, really really bad, and I highly recommend it.   
> I warned but in the next few chapters its going to get dark n stuff, but REGARDLESS thank u sosososo much for reading my creepy little fic. Genuinely means so much to me to get all your kudos and stuff, so thaaaaank youuuuuu. 
> 
> Any theories?? Predictions?? Let me know!
> 
> Okay thanks for reading, ur all legends.
> 
> [My pal GenericPureBlood is writing an ereri fic called I Need You...I rec it.   
> I'm also beta reading two fics rn I haven't mentioned in a while.   
> The Sun-Kissed Sea   
> &  
> Phoenix  
> They're both by losticarus. big rec]
> 
> ok thats all sorry this is so long 
> 
> Socials if u fancy a chat or want updates/my 3am thoughts and fic ideas -   
> ig - @regular___john  
> Tumblr - regular-john-16278


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oioi  
> enjoy

Levi’s phone rang its shrill ring he had dedicated to work calls, making the sleeping man groan. He flopped onto his front from his previous comfortable position and grabbed his phone, yanking out the charger. 

He took a quick glance at the caller and made a crumbled face of disgust before swiping to answer. 

“Rivaille, I need you to do a job.” The voice spoke in ugly french, speaking before Levi had the chance to speak himself. 

“Its fucking 6am you fucking twat, what do you want from me.” He spat down the phone, matching the language.

“A couple in that ugly coffee shop, the one with the cats on Bethnal-”

Levi seethed, “I know the fucking one.  _ Christ _ cats are annoying.”

“Whatever. Apparently they’re far too PDA obsessed and-”

“I don’t give a shit about why, Kenny.”

“Get it done.” 

Levi sighed, sitting upright and pinching the bridge of his nose. “I want upfront payment this time, none of that half-arsed 2 day late shit. Tell Erwin to get his shit together quickly for once.”

“Done. Have it sorted by 1, I’ll contact clean up.”

Levi moved the phone away from his face briefly to check the time, mentally going through when Eren would wake up that Saturday morning. “I’ll have it done by 8, next time just text me you fucking arsehole.” He replied, his voice quietening down as he remembered his sleeping roommate. 

“Do you always swear this much?”

“Fuck off.” Levi spat, and hung up the phone. 

He sighed again and started to carefully get dressed into his black trousers, jumper and jacket while tiptoeing around his room; collecting various weapons and putting them in his coat as he hadn’t decided how the kill would take place yet. He even zipped up his coat incredibly slowly to avoid waking Eren up, constantly keeping in mind that night he had found him screaming. Levi wanted to ensure Eren got as much sleep as he could, but little did he know all his efforts of being quiet were in vain. 

Eren had been awoken by the French man talking, and had sneaked out of his room to look through Levi’s keyhole to watch him speak. He ran away guiltily a few moments later, however, due to seeing his attractive, bloodied neighbour shirtless. He felt conflicted in his attraction, however, as the man was clearly tired and annoyed as Eren recognised the word ‘Merde’, and kept rubbing his face. While being scary, bloody and ridiculously attractive, he was sleepy and his most honest while freshly woken. Eren got back into bed smiling to himself, noting Levi’s efforts to be quiet. 

_____________________ _____________________

  
  


Once finally reaching his floor on the last flight of stairs of what felt like millions, Levi practically sprinted to his front door to unlock it. He carefully shut the door and put his bloodied gloves in the bag in his pocket, mentally reminding himself to wash them shortly. Tiptoeing once again that day to his room, there was the unmistakable noise of the shower running echoing throughout the apartment. He walked normally to his room then, hanging up his coat and removing his shoes before using the kitchen sink to scrub his gloves. 

Once clean, he walked past the bathroom again and into his room, putting the gloves in his coat pocket. He left his room and quietly closed the door facing in the general direction of the kitchen. Instead of doing the right thing and going absolutely anywhere else; before he realised it he was standing in front of the bathroom door. 

He scrubbed his eyes, mentally reprimanding himself for his perviness before even doing anything and shook his head. He kneeled down to look through the keyhole as he had done a few nights ago at Eren’s bedroom door to watch him sleep talk, his breath catching as his eye reached the hole. 

Sure enough, Eren was mid-shower, and very naked. Levi’s eyes widened as they worked their way down Eren’s body, taking in every curve and muscle that he could from the distance. His lips went dry and his heart pounded in his ears as he knelt in front of the door, utterly transfixed by the sight before him. 

He even guiltily considered opening the door to get a better look, when the joyful guitar ringtone of his phone started to blare Hanji’s presence; announced like a royal fanfare. 

Levi bolted upright and ran away from the bathroom, finding himself scuttling around their kitchen-sitting room area finding somewhere acceptable to sit. He opted for the kitchen table and crossed his legs before calmly picking up the phone. 

“What.” He blurted, annoyed at himself and slightly at Hanji. 

“LEVIIIIII I miss youuuu! It’s been like two weeks and you haven’t told me a THING about ANYTHING!” Hanji screeched down the phone, their voice temporarily deafening Levi in his right ear. 

He sighed, immediately knowing what they were referring to. “He lied a bit at first, but he’s slowed down now.”

“Oh yeah?”

“His eyes go AND his ears go red too...double tell.”

“Oh my god that's so interesting! He lights up like a tomato.”

“I guess.” He replied, forcing himself to stop imagining his roommate naked. 

“And how is everything with work?”

“...fine.”

“Enough work on the table?”

Levi rolled his eyes, “Of course.”

“Levi I have a question.” They randomly said, a phrase Levi was starting to grow tired of hearing from Hanji.

The raven sighed and stood up to make himself a tea, “You’re not getting mates rates, idiot.”

“Come onnn I’m your best friend.”

“I’m not giving you a discount, it’s my fucking job shitty specs. I’ll get paid full whack to do it.”

“Ughhhhh you’re so annoying.” He hummed a weak response, picking a tea bag to add to his mug. “I hate to put up with my boring boss, he’s so quiet! And he's so small and old and-”

“Maybe he’ll die soon.” Levi monotoned, pulling milk from the fridge as the kettle pinged to signify it was boiled. 

“Hopefully, but he-”

“I have to go.” Levi blurted, cutting Hanji off as he heard the shower switch off in the bathroom.

“Why?”

“I want a tea,” He lied, tutting as he saw his briefly red eyes reflecting from the kettle . “Goodbye four-eyes.”

“Whatever! See ya shortie.” 

Levi made a noise and complained at the insult under his breath as he moved to sit back at the kitchen table. “Fuck you, you know what? Fuck off, shitty fucking-”

The bathroom door was opened by Eren, his wet hair tied into its usual bun and a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. Levi’s eyes immediately shot to the man’s exposed chest, wet and glistening with water droplets from the shower, but then switched to look at his face. “Hi.” He yelped, using every ounce of willpower he had in him to look up. 

“Hey.” Eren replied awkwardly, walking through the room with a small dusting of pink resting on his cheeks. He quickly glanced at Levi’s arms on the way, noticeably not his face, and made the rest of the walk to his bedroom. 

Levi raised an eyebrow, but sighed in defeat while continuing his tea. He used the time he had to himself to think about his beautiful roommate; closing his eyes to remember all the instances he had seen him. This was becoming an embarrassing thing he had started to do more frequently as the days went on, and he only felt slightly guilty as he told himself no damage was being caused. 

___________________________________________

After dressing from his shower in plaid trousers and a baggy jumper, Eren picked up his laptop and walked from his room to the living area and flopped on the sofa. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Levi cooking in the kitchen and humming something to himself. 

Eren opened up his laptop and quickly checked his school email account before opening up a news app to see if anything interesting had happened recently. 

“Ah, what a shame.” He blurted, reading their local news’ headline. 

“What?” Levi asked, his humming coming to an abrupt end. 

“A couple were on a boat and they both drowned! Some freak accident or something.”

“Oh dear, when was that?”

“They were found at 8 this morning.”

Levi moved the spoon he was using to stir to the countertop and retrieved his phone, appearing to send a quick message. “Ah, that’s so sad” he said nonchalantly, ‘ _ I’d better get a fucking pay rise _ ’ he thought. 

“I know.” Eren replied, not noticing Levi’s faked sympathy. He’d carefully watched his reaction to the whole thing, and had concluded that the raven’s remorse for the couple was sincere. He was watching Levi cook pasta with his bare arms poking out from his black t-shirt, crimson dropping in tragic droplets onto the floor. The image contrasted entirely to his entire lovely personality, the flatmate that would offer to make him coffee’s and ask if he was alright.  _ Maybe this was all a misunderstanding _ , he thought,  _ this guy couldn’t be a killer _ . 

“I made too much pasta.” Levi blurted apologetically, turning off the stove and interrupting Eren’s thoughts. 

“Oh…”

“Do you want some?” 

Eren thought about it for a moment, and concluded that eating together couldn’t do any harm to anyone. They sat down at the table and ate together, the quiet sound of the television and the scraping of cutlery against their plates drowning out the mildly awkward silence between them. 

While Levi fretted if Eren was alright, Eren pondered his situation once again. It can’t be a misunderstanding, the blood hands have never been wrong or even slightly incorrect, he’s a murderer. Then...why is he so nice all the time? When he was growing up, raised in an environment where killing might have been the norm, he must not have realised the depth of it all? 

Eren decided he had to figure Levi out. After all, he can’t be that bad. Right?

After their meal, Levi silently took their plates and hand washed them; a habit Eren had noticed the raven enjoyed much more than the normal person. He loitered around while Levi scrubbed, and then they both walked off to their respective bedrooms.

“Goodnight, Eren.” Levi smiled softly, nodding to the other man. 

“‘Night Levi.” Eren replied, and closed his door to get into bed. 

He smiled up at the ceiling, thinking of how the roommate situation hadn’t turned out to be as bad as he thought. He was even starting to think he could possibly like Levi, and come to be comfortable with him.  _ Maybe we could live like normal roomates _ . 

_____________________ _____________________

The banging woke Eren up before the wailing started, leading him in his bleary state to stumble from his bedroom to the root cause of the noise. He glanced at the clock on the wall next to the door, noticing it was just after 3am, and briskly opened the door shamelessly in his alien print bottoms. He opened his mouth to shout at the intruder, but all noise faltered as he assessed the situation. 

Armin stood in the doorway, his eyes red clearly from crying as tears still clung to his eyelashes.  _ The source of the wailing _ , Eren mentally noted. Armin then moved to run a shaky hand through his disheveled blonde hair, and that was when Eren noticed it. 

A singular red drop on his index finger, unaffected by Armin’s hand moving through his hair and over his face. 

‘Armin, what did you do.’ 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun duuuuuuunnn
> 
> sorry that took so long, holidays n finishing one of my old fics n stuff delayed me but im back on my fortnightly updates (fingers crossed)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, commenting, kudos, all that stuff. absolutely means the world to me.
> 
> any thoughts/ theories???? lmk!!! things r going downnn
> 
> thanks again, ur all legends
> 
> social stuff  
> ig - @regular___john  
> Tumblr - regular-john-16278  
> Discord - regular_john#4033


	7. Chapter 7

Armin silently walked into the flat, carefully removing his vans and placing them where Eren’s shoes all were piled up against the wall. He walked past the gawking man and slumped down on the sofa, placing his head in his hands and taking deep, laboured breaths. Eren took a moment to rub his face with his hands, still drowsy from sleep, and closed the door before sitting next to Armin on the sofa. 

Eren opened his mouth to speak, but closed it when he saw Armin do the same. A soft sigh escaped the blonde’s lips, before he glumly moved his hands to wipe the still-clinging tears from his eyelashes. Eren’s eyes followed the small red dot on Armin’s hand as they moved, such a small thing having such shocking connotations. 

“I ran someone over.” He said, a loud sniff following his words. 

Eren’s eyes widened, but he grimly nodded. “Do you know who it was?”

“Some guy, I don’t know.” Armin shrugged, making Eren briefly question this response. 

“...did you plan to or-”

“It was obviously a fucking accident, Eren.” Armin snapped, his head flipping to face Eren’s once again before more tears began to fall. 

Eren jolted at the shock of hearing his best friend swear, but then moved to have a supportive arm around Armin, rubbing his back “Of course! Don’t worry, you didn’t mean it. It was an accident.” He said out loud, only partially to Armin. “You told the police that, didn’t you?”

“There was CCTV, they know I didn’t mean to ki-..I didn’t mean to! It was an accident, this guy was pushed into the road-” He broke off again in tears, his shoulders shuddering as he cried into his hands; while Eren's gaze stayed unwavering from the drop of blood. 

“I know you didn’t mean it, don’t worry. What happens now?”

“The police said community service a-at best, but what i-if it's not best?” He mumbled through his hands. 

Eren sighed, raking a hand through his long hair he had forgotten to tie up overnight. He had fallen asleep thinking about Levi, his embarrassing fantasies of the bloodied man wearing slightly less clothing doing unspeakable things to him taking precedence over all reason. The thoughts seemed to have come from nowhere, but were having a hard time leaving his mind. He cleared his throat. “It’s clear you didn’t mean to do it, Armin, and they must know that. There’s evidence.” 

“And what about school, what will they say?” Armin looked up at Eren, his eyes red-raw and vulnerable; reminding Eren of the common sight of a child that had fallen over in the playground at their school. 

“I’ll come with you when you talk to them about it. They know you, Ar, they know what you’re like. I bet you’ll be fine.” He poured every ounce of certainty he could into his voice, despite being secretly seriously concerned for his friend’s career working with children. 

Armin sniffled, looking away from Eren at nothing in particular. “...thank you.” 

Eren nodded, rubbing his back comfortingly once again. “Hot choccy?”

Armin nodded glumly, pulling the blanket hanging on the back of the sofa around his shoulders. 

Eren stumbled off the sofa and headed towards the kitchen, scooping up a random jumper resting over a chair on the way to cover his progressively colder torso; moving on autopilot to make the drinks. Pulling the weirdly tight jumper over his head, Eren couldn’t help remembering Levi gawking over his chest on the previous day when he had been returning from his shower. 

Eren felt he exercised a reasonable amount, in his mind a few jogs a week and swimming most afternoons in the school’s pool they shared with the gym being enough. Levi, however, seemed to go to the gym about 4 times a week, explaining the ridiculously attractive arms bulging out of the sleeves of his sinfully tight black t-shirts. It was like he lived there, but you couldn’t tell by anything else he did; this being either reading or cooking. The stunning image of Levi faltered in his head, being grimly reminded of the man’s bloodied forearms. He shook his head as if to clear his mind of his thoughts, smiling softly as he replaced this with the image of watching another terrible film with Levi. He didn’t admit it to the other man, but he had quickly grown to enjoy spending time with Levi. 

“...Eren” Armin’s voice said slowly, snapping Eren from his daze and prompting him to bring the drinks to the coffee table. 

“Armin.” He replied, grinning to himself.

“Why did you say ‘ _ what did you do’  _ ? How did you know?” The gravity of the situation hit Eren like a pile of bricks, their previous conversation coming back into mind as his smile erased itself from sight. 

“What?” Eren choked out, fear stabbing him directly in the stomach as he knew exactly what his annoyingly intelligent friend was referring to. 

“Normal people would ask what was wrong, but you immediately asked what I had done.” Armin reasoned, the tears having dried from his eyes to be replaced with their own concern. 

“It's a long story...really don’t worry about it, Ar” He replied, grabbing a hairband from the coffee table and nervously putting his long hair up haphazardly. 

The blonde put a hand on Eren’s arm, covered snugly by the tight jumper. “Eren, I’m your best friend. Please, I want to know.”

Eren sighed, letting his head briefly fall against the top of the sofa and his eyes close with the movement. He desperately tried to think of something; anything he could say to go against the truth. He scrunched his eyes up, as if the pressure on his pupils would help his thought process. 

Unfortunately, that was not the case. He sighed again and sat up, having a quick swig of his hot chocolate before turning to face Armin face-on. “Fine.”

And so, he explained it fully for the first time in his life. From the time in the doctor’s office, to the assembly in school. The times he had crossed the road to avoid people who looked as though they had Blood Hands, but it could have easily been make-up. He told Armin as much as he could about what he could see, explaining what it looked like in every detail. He misses Levi out, noticeably, his mind turning to the man softly humming and ‘accidentally’ making him dinner while blanking out his blood hands. 

Once he finished, Eren paused to allow Armin to gather his thoughts. The blonde had taken the whole thing surprisingly well, taking into account the absurdity of it all. He hadn’t even questioned if Eren had been lying, he just wanted to know as much as he possibly could. 

“So...you always know.” Armin concluded, his voice steady as he took a sip of his drink. 

Eren nodded firmly, “Always.”

Armin looked away for a moment, making Eren slightly raise an eyebrow. The blonde frowned, as if doubting his own thoughts, but then spoke with a hushed voice. “When Levi moved in, you told me he was a murderer.”

_ He’s too smart for his own good _ , Eren thought to himself; silently cursing his friend. He laughed nervously, “Ah, yeah I-um...I jumped to conclusions. He had a cut on his finger and I assumed - I’m so  _ paranoid _ about this kind of thing- it was clearly a cut.” This, of course, was a massive under-exaggeration of the bloodied arms of his roommate; the sheer mass of death somehow forcing blood to drip off his forearms. The image flashed in Eren’s head of Levi’s forearms resting on the kitchen counter, blood pooling in little circles representing lives he had taken. He forced the image out as soon as he could, yet again feeling incredibly conflicted. 

The other man nodded, somehow satisfied with Eren’s response in his daze. “Ah right, that makes sense...a lot of things make sense now actually. Thank you for being here, I would’ve gone to Jean but he’s away on another business trip.”

“No worries, anytime.” Eren smiled to himself, fondly remembering Jean buying him sweets and plants from his business trips. He purposely avoided telling Armin this in the moment, though, just in case Jean didn’t do the same for him. 

Armin stood up and headed back to the front door, closely followed by Eren as he put his shoes back on. “I’m going to get a cab to Mikasa’s place, I have overnight stuff in one of her spare rooms I’ll use. Thanks for letting me turn up.” The blonde said, the colour seeming to return to his previously drained face as he recovered from what had happened. 

“As I said, anytime. You sure you’ll be alright getting there?”

“Yeah, it’s fine,” He pulled out his phone and opened up an app to show Eren, “Apparently there's a cab just around the corner so I’ll use that one.”, pocketing his phone. 

“Alright, just let me know once you get there safely.”

“I will, thanks Eren.”

Eren offered a small smile as he opened the door, “Again, anytime-” He paused, briefly thinking about his sister he had failed to talk to for a good few months now. “Tell Mikasa I say hi...its uh- its been a while and I should probably talk to her.”

The blonde flashed a grin, the biggest smile he had produced that evening. “Will do.” 

Armin slammed the door shut, causing Eren to wince at his concern of waking his sleeping roommate. He grunted, however, and quietly padded over to his coffee machine; coming to the conclusion that once awake he may as well do some grading. 

Although, despite his efforts to remain quiet and turn the coffee machine on as softly as he could- his efforts amounted to nothing. 

In his bedroom, Levi sat down with his back pressed up hard against his door; an imprint of the wood inevitably carving itself onto his bare back. He stared down at his scarred hands, feeling self conscious of their appearance. 

He was sweating, hair stuck to his head from the nightmare he had been woken up from, the shrill sound of frightened wailing at the front door immediately raising him from his bed. He had opened his bedroom door to see Eren bumbling over to the front door, opening it to see his blonde friend standing there crying. 

Levi softly closed his door, but pressed his ear up against it and listened to the whole thing; eventually finding himself to be where he was. He glared at his hands, scrunching them up into fists before letting his head fall helplessly onto them. He didn’t have any cuts on his hands when they met, he had just come back from Italy where he wore gloves for every single kill. 

Eren  _ must _ know if what he said was true. If he can really see blood on peoples hands then  _ surely _ he knows…

_ Then why did he protect me? _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck  
> maaaan  
> I edited this chapter so many times I was so nervous about this one for some reason idk y  
> I was going to make Levi's bit shorter but I wanted to make it absolutely crystal that he heard EVERYTHING
> 
> but AnyWAyS a LOT went down ere   
> what did u guys think??? thouuughtsss theories, predictions??  
> I love reading them!!
> 
> Thank you, as per, for reading and for sticking around for so long  
> this fic is uh..its probably going to end up kinda long I hope thats alright w u
> 
> cheers for reading u legend, ill see u in a fortnight 
> 
> Socialssss -   
> ig - @regular___john  
> Tumblr - regular-john-16278


	8. Chapter 8

After a few moments of silence, Levi heard quiet shuffling around in the kitchen room followed by the light hum of Eren’s coffee machine springing to life. He had not moved since sliding into his position, his bare back painfully pressed against his bedroom door and his head forced onto his clenched fists- inevitably leaving two neat red marks on his forehead. 

Levi tried to take a breath, the lump in his throat refusing to clear, and felt his chest convulse at the sheer force of his anguish. He heaved his head up, only to stare down at his annoyingly clean hands with distant, glassy eyes. 

_ What the fuck do I do now? _

He once again swallowed a breath, each attempt going towards removing the lump, and staggered up into a standing position; wobbly from the swell of emotions he was feeling. He brought his hands up to his face, massaging his temples as if to clear his thoughts; eventually opting to ruffle his sweaty hair away from the sticky closeness to his skin. Blinking a few times, his ears beginning to ring, he practically collapsed into his bed forcing himself to delve back into the nightmares he had woken to avoid.  _ Anything but this _ . 

Levi’s sleep felt like it lasted seconds, brief flashes of red and gold accompanied by screams of terror plaguing every moment his eyes were closed. He was almost glad to wake up, bolting upright out of bed wide-eyed and very much unable to fall asleep again. Checking the time on his phone and seeing he had slept 3 hours, Levi slipped his phone into his short’s pocket and pulled on a long-sleeved black t-shirt and gently slid open his bedside drawer to retrieve the dark spindly frame of his glasses. 

He put them on, tutting at his own terrible eyesight and laziness to not put his contacts in, and carefully plodded out of his room in the direction of the kettle. His movements faltered briefly as he noticed Eren’s long hair hanging off the end of the sofa, signifying his presence in the room. Levi strongly walked on, filling up the kettle and turning it on while using every bit of strength he had to not go and look at the sleeping man on the sofa. He constantly fiddled with the ends of his sleeves, pulling them to hide his hands even from himself conscious of all the death they had caused, and all the death Eren could see. 

Eren himself opened his eyes slowly as he was woken to the noise of the kettle boiling, smiling softly to himself at the thought of Levi making a tea, but also feeling nervous for some reason. He yawned quietly while opening his phone, checking the time and sending a quick message to his sister asking if she wanted to meet up sometime soon. 

He rose from the sofa, feeling he’d left his hair down again and grimacing slightly at that fact brought it up into a haphazard up-do with stray bits of hair falling around his face in their usual annoying manner. He quickly looked down at his clothes, cursing himself for falling asleep in his pyjama bottoms and weirdly tight hoodie he didn't remember buying. For some reason, the thought of appearing dirty made him grimace when usually he wouldn't care in his own home. 

He walked over to the kitchen, leaning against the doorless doorway with his arms crossed watching Levi prepare his tea. 

Levi noticed Eren stood in the doorway immediately, yet avoided looking or even saying anything as he felt his cheeks warm slightly at the concept of being watched by Eren and desperately wanted to cover it.  _ He’s not looking at you because he likes you, his type is very clearly tall and joyful men, and you are neither of those things _ , he thought. 

_ Oh, and he knows you’re a murderer _ . 

None of these thoughts crossed Eren’s mind as he watched Levi scuttle about their kitchen carefully, constantly pulling his long sleeves over his hands and poking his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Eren’s nerves came back seeing Levi like that, the sleeves concealing any signs of his blood hands.

A small drop escaped the blood’s material confines ruined this image briefly though, causing Eren to shake his head in annoyance.  _ Shut up! He’s not cute, he’s a murderer with blood dripping from his hands! Stop! _

He cleared his throat. “Hi, Levi?” He said, for some reason as if it were a question. 

Levi moved his head towards Eren, briefly raking his eyes over his roommate’s body and praying he didn’t notice him lick his lips. “Hi, Eren. Do you fancy a coffee?” He forced out, looking up from the toned legs and tight-fitting hoodie to stare at his sleepy face and messy hair; the promise of making him a warm beverage distracting him from the real thoughts in his mind. 

Eren sighed and slumped down onto one of the chairs at their kitchen island. “Yes please.” 

Levi nodded in affirmation, and quickly turned to switch on Eren’s coffee machine, the familiar ritual of making their morning drinks now becoming a regular occurrence bringing back a familiar sense of security he had been missing. 

After a few moments of comfortable silence while he made the drinks, Levi turned around and presented Eren with his drink, raising an eyebrow slightly as something became immediately apparent as he looked at Eren once again. 

“That’s my hoodie, Yeager.” Levi huffed out, his hidden bland and deeper voice making a rare appearance in front of Eren. Levi’s own blandness surprised him, and he forced an awkward smile at the end of his statement to make it seem more realistic for the person he pretended to be.

Eren’s face immediately flushed a deep red, his eyes widening, “Oh, sorry-” He reached down and began to lift the bottom up over his toned stomach. 

“Don’t worry!” Levi interrupted, holding his hands up defensively, “Have it if you want, it’s a bit too big for me anyway.” Levi reasoned, deciding that the thought of his attractive roommate wearing his clothes was quite exciting. Eren, however, was mentally laughing as the ‘ _ too big _ ’ hoodie was unreasonably tight on him but keeping his expression plain to avoid giving his thoughts away. 

“Sorry…” Eren smoothed the hoodie back down, taking a quick sip of his freshly brewed coffee. Levi sat down opposite him, yet again pulling his sleeves over his hands and poking his glasses up as if it were some kind of ritual. Eren hadn’t even seen Levi wearing glasses before. He cleared his throat again and began talking before he had even thought about it, “Armin was in an accident last night.” He practically blurted, placing his coffee down on the counter in preparation to tell the story. 

“Oh gosh, really?” Levi replied, tilting his head slightly as Eren explained everything Levi had already heard the previous night; the raven focusing his attention on Eren’s fingers drumming on the counter or his knee bobbing making their drinks jolt around or his lip biting between explanations. 

“Wow...that must’ve been terrible for him!” Levi said, choosing to speak once it had seemed like Eren hadn’t spoken for a while. 

“He’s really struggling, understandably.”

“I’m sure he’s got it all covered having you around, but if he needs anything be sure to let him know I’m here for him too.” Levi said, physically restraining himself from reaching over and holding Eren’s hand; the projected image of Eren jerking his hand away being too much for the raven to handle. 

“Thanks Levi, he’d really appreciate that.” Eren replied, smiling the sort of sad smile you would flash at a funeral. 

“A pleasure…” Levi looked down at his hands again, clenching them back into fists before carefully speaking again. “...about last night-” 

Levi looked up to see Eren had set down his finished coffee and stood up from his chair, stretching his long muscular arms into the air; exposing a line of tanned flesh from under Levi’s own hoodie. Levi averted his gaze, taking another sip of his tea. 

“Yeah?” Eren responded, resting his forearms on the surface not too far from Levi. 

“Oh-ummm” Levi realised in that moment that he didn’t want to ruin the bliss that they had created. Eren smiling over at Levi, belly warm full of coffee the shorter man has just made for him, his hair in a state of haphazard disarray. The man had lived and still seemed happy to live like this while being aware the entire time about Levi’s career,  _ maybe he didn’t mind? _ “Don’t worry.” Levi blurted, without much thought. 

Eren nodded and flashed a large grin, one Levi was being graced with more and more often of late. “Okay, I’m going to have a shower.” He said, and swiftly turned around heading towards their bathroom. 

“Okay~” Levi responded, his eyes following Eren’s backside as it taunted him towards the bathroom. 

He took another sip of his tea to take his mind off of Eren, weirdly feeling comfortable with the situation they were in. He allowed himself a small, natural smile at Eren’s willingness to take off his hoodie simply because it was Levi’s. He almost got lost in that thought, when he felt his phone vibrate an irregular pattern he had designated from one contact only. 

He removed his phone from his short’s pocket and opened up the text to see a name, description, address and time crop up as a text from Kenny; followed by the sum he was going to be paid for it and the payee’s initials. He glanced towards his bedroom door, mentally planning what he would do now and what to bring, and swallowed another lump that had formed in his throat. 

_What now?_

Levi was eager to work again, but felt conflicted to do so knowing his roommate knew what he did. He had never felt so conflicted over a kill before, his throat feeling like it was closing up as he moved on autopilot to his bedroom to change and collect the items he needed. While preparing for the job, he repeated a mantra over and over again in his head to keep him going. 

_ Eren would’ve said something by now if he really cared.  _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helluuurrrrr  
> Ty for reading, ur all massive legends  
> not a massively drama filled chapter, if thats what u want then ur going to LOVE the next few chapters muahaha  
> I update fortnightly on Thursdays, but next chapter is too good to sit on I might have to upload soonerrrr
> 
> Thoughts! Theories! Lmklmklmk i love reading ur comments it brings me so much joy lol
> 
> alsooOOO massssive thank u for 5.4k hits, thats pretty fucking cool ON TOP OF literally everythng im so happy you guys r enjoying my silly little fic i LOVE writing   
> thaAAANK YOU SOOO MUUUUCHHH :))
> 
> On a different note…...Ops on...smut?? Bc im thinking of writing smut for this fic (IT WILL BE IN A W H I L E they obviously have things to sort out first) but….do u guys particularly WANT smut?? Please also lmk bc im really not sure just yet
> 
> again massive thanks, also to the ereri discord server legends for being so cool  
> :)
> 
> Socialssssss -   
> ig - @regular___john  
> Tumblr - regular-john-16278


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quiiiiiite a long one  
> warning for miiiiiiiild s*lf h*rm & graphic depictions of death n murder and stuff from the outset [but I'm sure you all know that I do that by now]
> 
> enjoy!

The kill itself was swift, after years of practise Levi knew the perfect placement of his favourite knife through someone's rib to slice their heart and end their life. He debated other methods, such as asphyxiation or maybe even asking Hanji for a new drug concoction to try but a knife wound seemed the fastest and most efficient method for what he wanted to achieve.

When Levi killed, he never really felt anything and was never particularly observant to his victims or anything aside from doing the job and trying not to get too much blood on himself. However, when he slid his knife into his victim’s chest he found himself looking directly into her eyes. He watched the woman’s final few moments, her eyes blowing in shock and slowly calming down until becoming motionless. Once she had passed, the raven staggered up and shot a quick text before leaving her bedroom; taking one final look at the figure slumped at her dressing table. 

Levi left the house through the back door and expertly skirted through the garden and side alleys by the house after taking a few minutes before entering the house to plan an escape route. Once he made it to the main road not far from his flat, he slowed his pace to blend in a bit more and calmed his breathing. 

_____________________ _____________________

Levi’s hands felt numb from the cold as he unlocked the front door, shaking slightly while he gently pushed open the door and took a shaky breath. “I’m home!” he yelled. 

The flat was silent, the only noise being the fridge’s gentle hum it always made alongside the heater under their mantlepiece keeping the flat warm. “Eren?” The raven walked through the apartment and dumped his stuff in his room, before plodding out and finding himself in the kitchen.

He scratched the back of his neck and looked around for a moment before he realised, “He’s at work.” The raven sighed at his immediate disappointment, making his way over to the kitchen sink and beginning his routine of cleaning everything he had used. 

He scrubbed everything to a meticulous level, his thoughts slowly racing away from him as he scrubbed his hands raw. The woman’s eyes flashed every time he blinked, fading from the greeny gold they had adopted to their normal pale blue as life left her body. 

The shrill tone of his phone ringing broke his cycle of furiously washing his hands, finding them red and slightly more stratched than usual. He carefully patted them dry, not wanting to aggravate them more than he already had, and answered his phone knowing the ringtone meant it was someone from work but not checking to see who it was. 

“What.”

“Hey! We did it, was a quite easy clean.” Farlan answered lightly, a lilt in his voice reserved for when he was in a good mood. 

“...Good. Could you not fucking text this?”

His friend was silent for a few seconds, stuttering slightly before speaking again, “It’s just...this might’ve been your quickest kill yet!” 

“Tch.”

“It was as clean and efficient as always, incredible marksmanship. Normally you bleed ‘em a bit more though.”

_Blood. Visions of Eren screaming in his sleep, terrified by all the blood he was subject to on a daily basis_ ; and that was Levi’s fault. 

“Just wanted to minimise blood today, less cleaning.” He leaned against the kitchen island and hung his head, screwing his eyes closed and hoping Farlan hadn’t noticed the slight wobble in his voice. 

“Alright...I mean- is it getting too much? It’s unlike you to be that bothered-”

“Farlan, just drop it.” The raven snapped, forcing his voice to adopt its bland tone. 

“You can talk to me, Levi.” His voice softened, and got much quieter.

Levi felt his chest tighten at the words, knowing the one thing he wanted to talk about would be incredibly difficult to explain. “Thanks, Farlan.” 

Before he could reply, Levi hung up on his friend and threw his phone onto the countertop, briskly pacing back and forth across the kitchen trying to think of what to do next. 

He ran a shaky hand through his hair and closed his eyes, taking another deep breath and trying to think of something to calm him down. When in the past, his immediate thought had been his mother or sitting by the sea his mind went to just the night before where he had made food for Eren. 

It was because of this that instead of spending his free time reading or researching ways to improve his work, Levi ended up rushing around the kitchen and making palmiers for Eren using pre-made puff pastry from the fridge he had bought a few days ago. He wasn’t completely certain why he was cooking for Eren, if he could pinpoint any one main reason why he felt the need; if it was either to impress Eren or it was just to give the raven something to do. 

Either way, once Eren finally returned from work Levi had a large plate filled with palmiers waiting for him on their kitchen island while the raven sat on their sofa reading a book, having a sip of his tea. When Eren walked in and removed his striped scarf and dark blue fluffy coat, Levi’s head shot up to watch his actions and allowed a soft smile to form on his face. Eren looked back at Levi sitting on the sofa underneath a blanket and let his own small smile form. 

“Hiya.”

“Hey, do you want a coffee?” 

Eren grinned and nodded enthusiastically, sitting down at the kitchen island. “Ooh yes please, those smell incredible.” 

Warmth sprang up in Levi’s chest at the compliment, Eren liked the smell of his food! He looked down at his long sleeves he had put on after cooking and sighed at himself, standing up and going to make Eren’s coffee. He heard Eren flick on the television and put on something with a laughing audience in the background, Eren himself laughing along softly at whatever had been said. 

Once finishing Eren’s drink, Levi joined him on the sofa and placed the plate of palmiers he had carried in his other hand on their footstool. 

“Thank you so much Levi, what a treat!” Eren smiled again, his eyes flashing a breathtaking gold before he gently picked up the pastry and took a bite. 

The raven noticed how close they were sat when Eren’s small moans of appriciation sounded shockingly close to his ear, Levi’s face flushing at the erotic noises. He picked up his tea to distract himself. 

“These are so nice!” Eren muffled, face full of pastry. 

A small buzz came from Levi’s phone at that moment, but he chose to ignore it, turning his attention back to his roommate. “I’m glad you like them, I made them for you actually.”

“You did?” He asked, grinning as he looked at Levi. “Oh you little softie.”

“Little?!” The raven exclaimed, and was met with laughter. 

“Am I wrong?” He justified, and Levi annoyingly found himself chuckling alongside him. 

Another message came to Levi’s phone and he willed it to stop, nothing could be as important as watching his beautiful roommate laugh. 

They continued to laugh about Levi’s height for a few seconds more, until they were interrupted by the shrill ringtone from Levi’s phone he had designated for work calls. His face paled, falling as he knew what it all meant. 

Eren grew silent, making the immediate assumption that the phone call meant that someone’s life was in danger. 

“I kind of need to get this, I’ll be back in a moment.” Levi sighed, pulling the phone from his pocket and standing up. 

“No problem.”

Levi stormed into his room and closed the door, picking up the phone with a scowl. “ _Tu veux un visage de baise_?”

[What do you want fuck face?]

“Ah, Levi, so glad to hear from you.”

“What the fuck do you want Kenny.” He snapped, leaning against his bedroom door. 

“I texted like you requested, but that didn’t seem to work. This needs doing, you can find the info-”

“Spit it out now you’re here so i can do it.” He mumbled, hating the words as they fell out. 

“Freckled idiot needs dealing with, he’s the reason some guy is cheating? I’m not too sure, some little nervous blondie came by-”

“When have I ever asked for details, Kenny. Give me the place and I’ll do it.”

Kenny clicked on his computer for a moment and hummed, “His house would do, he’s in right now. I texted the address, the client wants it done ASAP.”

“On it.”

Levi hung up and picked up the same bag he had used that morning, putting in a few extra things just in case they were needed. He hurriedly grabbed a jumper and put it on while leaving his bedroom, heaving his bag on his back as he re-entered the living room. 

Eren looked up from him from where he was sat, a sad expression on his face Levi knew he had caused. “Sorry Eren but I’ve got to go out, I won’t be long though it’s just a little job.” He mumbled, ashamed that they both knew what that really meant but that he didn’t want to explicitly say it out loud. 

“No worries,” The teacher smiled, taking Levi’s blanket for himself. “Want to put on a film when you get back?”

Levi smiled back, “Sounds great.”

_____________________ _____________________

The raven thumped on the apartment door softly, allowing himself a few moments to compose himself and come into the character he needed to play for his job. 

The door opened to a young man, around Eren’s age, with chestnut brown middle-parted short hair and a soft-featured face scattered with freckles. “Hiya! Can I help you?” He smiled, seeming far too cheerful to be talking to a stranger. 

“Hi, is Erwin in?” Levi asked, subtly moving his glasses away from his eyes for a moment as the lie fell out; desperate to avoid the red glare it created. 

The freckled man frowned, “I’m sorry but I don’t actually know an Erwin.”

Levi gulped dramatically and brought his palm up to his forehead, looking at the floor. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry I was given this address for a date! He must’ve given the wrong place.” He rambled, the excuse ringing partially true from when the once budding policeman had stood him up. _Oh how things have changed_ , he thought. 

“Are you sure it was this flat?” The man frowned, tilting his head sympathetically. 

“Yeah…” He moved out of the doorframe and looked up and down the hall, pretending to read the numbers. “He gave me this exact flat.” He said at last, looking at the man with every ounce of hopelessness he could muster before looking down. 

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry.” 

The raven looked up from previously frowning at his shoes and feigned gaining composure, “I-... I just really thought he was the one, you know?” He sighed, “I’m really sorry for disturbing you.”

“Don’t worry! I was actually just making tea, maybe you’d like to join me?” He asked. 

_That was fucking easy_ , Levi thought. “Really?”

“Of course!.” The man’s eyes shone a dazzling gold and the raven felt himself walk inside the apartment, sitting down at the kitchen table while the man brewed tea in his small kitchen.

He gazed around at the pale yellow room filled with bright green plants and pictures of smiling people. In one of them Levi noticed the freckled man kissing another man in a park somewhere, another showed the same horse-faced man laughing at the camera.

_Oh shit that’s Jean!_ Levi suddenly realised, frantically looking at all the pictures again to confirm his suspicions. 

_ Did that make the little blondie Armin? _

“You make a wonderful couple!” Levi shouted in the general direction of the kitchen, keeping his eyes locked onto the picture of the man and Jean kissing in a park. It was definitely him. 

“Oh, thank you! Jean and I have been together for about four years now.”

Levi’s mind raced, _Jean...four years. Eren was with him about two years ago, and Armin is with him now._

_ Who was this guy? _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuuuuuck man   
> things!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> gimme your thoughts, theories, ramblings, I LOVE reading them and replying to them im obsessed with this silly little story.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, genuinely means the world to see people enjoying this. Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou
> 
> some quick cheeky shoutouts for my pals if u dont mind  
> im beta reading The Sun-Kissed Sea by losticarus n EVERYONE should read that!!! mermaid eren!! its so good and yes im biased but please its amazing  
> Calling Out Your Name by tamagin. amazing. cmbyn au but its so beautifully written omg im obsessed   
> devil may cry by TheSilverField (reincarnation au, just genuinely stunningly done, so good)  
> Self Sovereignty by Lady_bluebird (PLEASE READDDDD its ABO and its so well done omg)  
> I could do so many more but I won't want to write too much ere lol
> 
> AGAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH
> 
> Socialsssssssss-   
> ig - @regular___john  
> Tumblr - regular-john-16278


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read the tags!!! They will b added to write a lot!!! Make sure you're okay with them before reading!!!

“-Jean and I have been together for about four years now.”

Levi’s mind raced,  _ Jean...four years. Eren was with him about a year ago, and Armin is with him now.  _

_ Who was this guy? _

“Wow, that’s a long time.” Levi answered nonchalantly, squinting at the pictures again to make sure he wasn’t projceting anything. This was definitely the right Jean, the same weird two-toned hair, the same stupid long face, the same laughing face he showed in pictures with Eren and his friends. The only difference was that he was with the freckled man in these pictures, his expression appearing as joyful as when he was with Eren.

“Here you go! I hope you like it.” The man placed an ornate yellow teapot onto the kitchen table, and a few moments later put down two similarly yellow tea cups and matching saucers next to it. Levi watched the freckled man rushing around his kitchen, scrubbing down a tea strainer and getting out a small pot to pour milk from his fridge in and then placing it alongside all the other fancy items. 

Levi calmly poured himself a tea, the pleasant and faintly sweet scent of the chamomile wafting up; instantly relaxing the slight nerves he had started to feel. The man followed his movements with a similar level of expertise, watching Levi’s movements carefully with a look of hopeful joy pasted onto his face. The shorter man took a sip of the tea and hummed in approval, finding the tea itself to be one of the best he had ever had. 

“Is it alright? I’m still trying to wrap my head around tea brewing, I just hope it’s okay.” The freckled man blabbed nervously, having a quick sip of the tea himself. 

“The tea is lovely! Thank you so much for letting me have some.” Levi responded, attention away from the tea and entirely focused on the other man as he watched his movements. The pessimist in him wondered if this guy knew about Eren and Armin, and if the whole ‘ _ Jean and I _ ’ happy families act was some sick game they played together. 

Levi had a deep inlaid hatred of people who went against built-up trust. Within the syndicate he had grown up in, the group his uncle lovingly referred to as his family but was clearly a gang, loyalty was the most valued trait a person could possess. While qualities of inflicting harm, torture and the like were understandably regarded highly since being a young boy, he was also raised to have trust with those close to him and give what he would want in return. 

He’d found it hard to trust other people that weren’t involved with the group he had been raised in, partially due to the values placed on him since childhood but also the fact that he always knew if he was being lied to. He also couldn’t imagine breaking the trust of someone as close to him as a lover, despite the fact that the majority of his lovers had been one night stands. 

“You’re more than welcome, it's a pleasure.” The freckled man stirred Levi from his mental ramblings, jolting him back to the present. “You can take a box if you want, I recently stocked up and went a bit overboard.” He nodded towards some boxes piled up against the kitchen wall, stacked identical purple boxes with intricate gold lettering. 

Levi grinned and plucked a box from the pile, “This is amazing, thank you so much.” and carefully placed a box inside his bag, alongside a pair of gloves, a knife and some rope reminding him of why he was even there in the first place. He zipped his bag up again and forced his face to shift to a frown, coming back into the character he had created for himself. “I’m really sorry about this, I’m just completely thrown off guard by it.” 

The other man nodded gently in understanding, putting his teacup back onto its saucer. “It’s honestly completely fine, I’m sure this must be awful for you.” He sympathised, his eyes glowing gold as he spoke. 

“Yeah...it’s just that this has happened before-” He sighed, placing a hand over his eyes as if to hide the lie, “I should really be used to this by now.”

“No! Nonono not at all! He clearly wasn’t worth your time.”

Levi moved his hand, his eyes forcibly glassy, “You think so?”

“Yeah! I believe that there’s someone for everyone, obviously I’m slightly biased with my Jean but I really do believe that there is someone for everyone, even you…” He paused, realising he was unsure of a name for his houseguest. 

“Levi.” The shorter man supplied.

“Ah, nice to meet you Levi. I’m Marco.” He smiled. 

“Likewise…” He responded, feeling a sinking feeling down in his stomach. For the first time in what felt like his entire life, he didn’t feel like he could kill someone. He knew there was good money in it, but this guy isn’t a problem.  _ In fact _ , he thought,  _ he reminds me of Eren and the way his eyes shine a breathtaking gold when he tells the truth _ . He cleared his throat, “I’m really sorry if I’m disturbing you.” He reiterated, forcing himself back into the correct mindset. 

“Not at all! Jean’s just gone on an emergency business trip, you see. He’s a travel writer so he travels a lot, but sometimes his bosses need him urgently in different countries- so I’ve been left to my own devices for a few days.”

Levi remembered Jean rushing back that morning from his prior so-called ‘business-trip’ to comfort Armin after what had happened.  _ Jean is on the other side of town with Armin right now...I should tell him.  _

The taller man continued talking, babbling about their dream to move to Italy together and detailing the house, a balcony filled with plants, brightly painted walls. He even went on to say how his boyfriend is ‘ _ really trying his best _ ’ to learn italian. “But, anyway! I was a bit bored so really, Levi, it’s nice to have the company.” He smiled yet again, his whole face telling Levi all he needed to know. This guy was completely genuine and honest, he meant every single word he said. 

“Thank you so much for having me-” Levi shook his head suddenly.  _ I can’t do this. _ “I actually need to say something to you, Marco.” 

“Oh?” The other man questioned, a small smile still on his face. 

“I’ve done something I hate doing, and it’s made me feel terrible doing it-” Levi swallowed a shaky breath, staring intently at his teacup and incredibly aware of the silence in the room. He glanced up to see Marco cocking his head to the side, questioning him but giving him plenty of room to speak. “I’ve lied to you.” 

He frowned, “Oh...s-so…”

“Marco, I’m sorry...I was hired to come to your apartment today.” Levi spoke with a strained voice, sitting up and forcing himself to look the other man directly in the eyes. 

“You were? I don’t understand...what you mean by that.” He broke off in nervous laughter, picking up his teacup again and holding onto it without actually drinking anything. 

“I was hired...Fuck!” He shouted, taking a deep breath to get the words out. “I was hired to kill you, Marco.”

“Kill me?! Don’t be ridiculous, you got given the wrong address because  _ Erwin _ is a horrible man and he stood you up.” He reasoned, the ghost of a smile still on his face but uncertain in its place there. 

“I couldn’t be more serious right now if i tried, and I never do this. I just know something that I need to tell you...There are a few reasons why I feel like I can’t do this. I can’t kill you.” Levi started talking with his voice steady and confident but progressively grew smaller and more insecure as he went on. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“You’re not meant to comfort me! I’m literally here to kill you, Marco.”

“I know but...please tell me what’s wrong.” 

“Your boyfriend Jean.”

Marco’s comforting smile faltered, but still no anger registered on his face, “ _ HE _ hired you? He wouldn’t, I don’t-”

“ _ He _ didn’t hire me.” Levi interrupted.

“Who hired you Levi?”

A thought came to the shorter man’s mind as he scrambled to get out his phone, and opened it up to his last text message. He gently placed it on the table and turned it to face Marco, displaying the details of the job in addition to the payee’s details. “Jean’s boyfriend, Armin.” Levi replied, his voice strained. 

The freckled man looked down at the phone, taking a few deep breaths and clenching his jaw, his expression hidden behind a curtain of dark hair. “His...I don’t understand.”

Levi spoke again with a careful soft voice, one you would use to an injured animal when comforting it. “They’ve been together as far as I can tell for a few weeks, when I moved in-” Green eyes immediately came to mind,  _ what would Eren think of me now?  _ Levi thought. _ This is the right thing. Marco doesn’t need to hear Eren’s name, _ “When I moved into my new flat. He also had a boyfriend before Armin and they were together for about a year and a half I believe.”

Marco was silent, still taking breaths to steady himself while he stared at the phone in front of him. “I’m so sorry Marco.”

“So, Jean’s current boyfriend- I’m really sorry what was his name again?” He asked, moving his face up to look at Levi, small trails of tears already on his cheeks and more gathering in his eyes. 

“Armin.”

“Right, so Armin hired you to kill me?”

“That’s right. I never ask why someone hired me, but my boss mentioned cheating when he spoke to me down the phone. I assume that means Armin found out about you somehow.”

“And he wants me dead instead of sorting out the situation?”

“Apparently so.” Levi replied, a grim expression forming on his face out of confusion and utter heartbreak for the man. Of all the responses to finding out your boyfriend was cheating on you, and that someone had been hired to kill you, this was incredibly far from the response he was expecting. 

“And the other boyfriend...He had no idea about me? I didn’t know about him.”

“As far as I’m aware, no.” Levi wracked his brain, thinking back to Eren and his brief mentions of Jean. He talked about their argumentative relationship, about his business trips, but he never mentioned cheating; it was made out that they broke up due to their incessant arguing.

The other man took a deep final breath and nodded his head, firmly glueing his teary eyes to Levi. “Okay, well I suppose that answers it.”

Levi raised his eyebrows, “Answers it...what?”

“Levi, the love of my life has never been loyal to me. He grounded me to this earth, he’s the reason I breathe. I don’t think I can live on this earth with the knowledge that he doesn’t and never did care for me the same way I do for him.” 

The shorter man shook his head in disbelief, feeling a lump form in his throat. “That doesn’t mean you need to die!”

“What else is there?” He gave a watery smile, his voice wavering. 

“There’s so much in this world, so much. Please...I don’t think I can do this.” He replied, feeling his cheeks dampening from his own tears that had started to fall. 

Marco placed a hand on Levi’s arm resting on the tabletop, rubbing it affectionately much like a friend would. “It’s okay, Levi.” He spoke slowly, carefully getting out his words as sincerely as he could. “You can get your money and I can get my peace. I don’t want this.” He searched Levi’s eyes, giving him a sad smile while his own eyes shone a dazzling gold. 

The shorter man let out a muffled sob, placing his own shaking hand on top of Marco’s steady one. “...You’re the most honest man I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting, Marco.” Levi mumbled. 

The other man nodded, “Thank you...Can I actually request something of you before you kill me?”

Levi barked a laugh at the request, wiping away the tears brimming at his eyes. “Anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marco... ily  
> i also just wanna quickly reiterate what levi said (but didnt enforce too well) theres soso much. If anyone ever feels like that, please feel free to message me or at least someone close to u to tell them how u feel...very important
> 
> I also just have to say I love jean n I love marco  
> APoLogiEs...its for plot
> 
> Thoughts? Feelings? Theories? Do you hate me now? 
> 
> Working on some wips. atm n they should be out in like 3 weeks after i finish exams, so if u like this u might like them (maybe), may start doing weekly updates for a few weeks on this once im on my break before summer term idk we'll see
> 
> aNywaYS thank u so much for the hits n comments n kudos n the like, ur all massive legends. this fic is confirmed going to be at least 23 chapters but im still planning so it will probably go over that. I hope to see u all on the ride
> 
> thanks again :) 
> 
> ig - @regular___john  
> Tumblr - regular-john-16278  
> Discord - regular_john#4033


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